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Jorre van Ast

Life cycle of Jorre van Ast

Jorre van Ast was born in 1980. He studied Industrial Product Design at The Hague University. After two years at industrial design studio Flex in the Netherlands, he continued his studies at the Royal College of Art in London, where he finished the Design Products course. Immediately after returning from the RCA, Jorre van Ast began working as an independent product designer and shared a joint studio in North London, the OKAY studio. The OKAY studio is no organized business or brand and its members do not design or work exclusively together. They are brought together with the simple common goal of sharing a space where creativity can flourish and people can learn from each other's knowledge and skills. Jorre van Ast began working at Arco in 2007 where he led the design and development studio. The family-run company Arco has been headed by Jorre van Ast since 2011. He guards the esteemed Arco style and adds his personal touch to their designs. The furniture collection, which contains many bestsellers from the past, has slowly but surely become a new distinctive design signature. The pursuit of innovation and sustainability remains an important guiding principle, as are consistency, high quality and traditional craftsmanship. On commision by Royal VKB, Jorre van Ast designed the Dish Drainer GEO. A design which in terms of materials is different from the materials that Van Ast used to work with before. Nevertheless, the design has proven to be a great success. This Dish Drainer GEO earned him the Grand Prix, and represents his breakthrough in the European design world.